


breaking the ice

by itsclementimee



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Childhood Trauma, Explicit Language, F/F, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mutual Pining, Romantic Tension, Snowed In, can be viewed platonically but is meant to be romantic, just two nervous gays being nervous gays, no beta reader we die like men, references to s2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 10:33:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15727632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsclementimee/pseuds/itsclementimee
Summary: when an unexpected snowstorm hits during their hunting trip, Violet and Clementine get lost and spend the night together.





	breaking the ice

**Author's Note:**

> this is probably not well written but i tried my best. violentine is my lifeline.

* * *

  **breaking the ice**

* * *

 

"Well...this is just delightful, huh?"

 

Violet's voice matches the cold fury of the wind; biting to the very bone with every breath and chilling gust.

 

Crystal snow pelts across the landscape, and although there are only a few feet of distance between Clementine and her hunting companion, Violet's form still appears as a phantom behind the light fog.

 

For the second time since she and AJ chose the boarding school as their new home, Clementine and Violet ventured outside the borders for food, the train station once again being their destination. A decision neither Violet or Clementine put a second thought on, their minds on helping their friends rather than the dangers of the world.

 

Snow settled gently from the sky, quiet and careful, a light sprinkling dancing across the air. At least, it did earlier. They should have known; Winter was the type of season that smiled softly as it dug its claws into your back.

 

The clouded air makes a chill run down Clementine's spine, the beads of silver that meet her skin cut into her numb flesh. Looking forward, she can only watch as trees are swallowed by the wrath and hunger of winter.

 

Clementine hoped Violet's experience of the area would allow them to escape the dreadful fate of getting lost, but from the looks of the deep frown that presses on her face, Violet was just as befuddled by the bare trees and white peaks as Clementine was.

 

The two can do no more but stare into the white abyss, snowflakes coming to hug their idle figures.  

 

With a hopeless sigh, Clementine kicks into gear, ignoring the sharp gusts of wind that whistle in her ears. "We should find some place to stay until this storm passes."

 

Violet nods stiffly. "The stations kinda risky but...it's probably closest. I doubt we've made any real distance."

 

Fortunately, it's not that hard a task to retrace their steps. Amongst the untouched snow is two sets of deep footprints, Violet and Clementine are able to find their way back to the station before the snow has a chance to cover the marks they left.

 

Stuck in the wooden walls of the train station, with the rhythmic pitter patter of snow and ice hitting the glass windows, they are silent. There's no animosity or even tension, but something feels amiss, and Clementine knows Violet can sense it too. She can feel the icy gaze clawing at her from the corner she resides, and the strain unspoken words on the other girl’s lips rested heavy and humid in the dry winter.

 

Empty words fill the silence. "If it weren't for everything, this would be kinda nice." There's something gentle in Violet's voice, situated with folded arms by one of the windows, watching the white particles that fly across the air.

 

"Nice?" Clementine echoes back.

 

"I just mean..." She inhales deeply, the tone of her voice changing to that familiar sarcastic drawl. "If there weren't like...corpses walking around. The snow is kinda pretty, I used to love winter as a kid. Santa and shit."

 

"I grew up in Georgia so...I never really got to see snow, not like this at least."

 

She turns, a smirk growing on her lips. "Is this your first snowstorm?"

 

Clementine feels her brow crease as her eyes cloud over with the distant memories that swim aimlessly in her head. A flurry of gunshots, followed by piercing cries of a newborn.

 

She must see the way Clementine's expression changes, because her smirk retreats suddenly, replaced by a melancholy frown.  

 

"No..." Clementine mumbles. "Not really..."

 

"Oh."

 

Outside, she can hear the wind screaming.

 

Thick, quiet air seeps like poison into Clementine's skin, only deepened by Violet's brutal indifference. Either way, she isn't questioned further, and Clementine doesn't know whether or not to be relieved by that.

 

With a shake of her head, she busies herself by further exploring the station. The two linked corpses from her and AJ's first visit remain in the same place she had left them; empty shells of what they once were. Even if moving them outside would help to banish the bitter stench and free up the small space, she can't ignore the sharp teeth of guilt that sink into her chest. So against all odds, she leaves them there, and continues to venture in search of supplies.

 

In a corner, shielded by cobwebs and shadows, lays a bundled up blanket. Embedded within it are intricate lines of multicolored thread, crudely hand knit threads and vaguely prominent tears at the seams. Brushing the sheet of dust off the wool, it's noticeably prickly and rough, unaccepting of Clementine's touch. When she investigates it further and finds that it is large enough for both herself and Violet to use, she decides to give it a chance.

 

* * *

 

"This blanket feels like shit."

 

"I know."

 

"It makes me itchy, I feel like I'm gonna lose it if this thing is on me all night."

 

"Well, I don't want it."

 

"Then why do we have it!?"

 

Before Clementine can reply, the blanket is whisked from her body, allowing the chill to greet her once again. Somehow, keeping the blanket is a worse fate, so she reluctantly embraces the frigid air. All she hears is the sound of thick cloth hitting the wooden floor a fair distance away from the both of them.

 

Tossing and turning in her spot on the floor, the rough winds that pierce against the windows become like nails on a chalkboard. With a defeated groan, Clementine comes to terms with the fact that there's no hope of her getting sleep tonight. Amber eyes settle on the set of windows across from her, tracing the webs of frost that have found their home on the edges.

 

"You're up too, huh?" It's Violet, in all her lethargic glory. Her stirring went unnoticed by Clementine, but she's almost thankful to not be the only one awake. "It was really wishful thinking to imagine we'd be able to sleep in this place."

 

"Yeah..." Clementine answers dully.

 

Violet isn't much of a conversationalist, neither of them are, but most found Clementine to be the friendlier and more talkative of the two; Which is why the amount of effort Violet makes to speak amongst the silence is a little concerning.

 

"It's...really cold." Clementine decides to say, as if it would do something to aid the unease that's set between the two.

 

"No shit." The silence doesn't last long before she changes the subject. "I just wanted you to know that...I'm sorry."

 

Clementine shifts from her spot, turning on her other side to see Violet sitting only an arm's length away from her. The lunar light cascades over her form, bathing her in a glow that makes her cream skin almost unnaturally white. "For what?"

 

Her frown deepens, her form casting a shadow over Clementine from above. "Having you come out here with me." Her eyes cast down, glimmering uncertainty and guilt hidden behind a jade mirror. "I really didn't think it was gonna snow as much as it did, or that I wouldn't be able to find our way back if it did. I know you're upset."

 

"Vi, I'm not upset." The tone of Clementine's voice is shaky and - judging by Violet's reaction - unconvincing.

 

"You've been acting really-" An unnatural pause stabs through the flow of her words, "- off. I know I don't know you that well yet but, you aren't usually like this."

 

Clementine rises from the spot she's laying, sitting up and leaning against the cold wood. "Violet. Trust me, that doesn't have anything to do with you. I've just been feeling a little on edge. The last time I saw snow like this, well, a lot of shit happened."

 

Violet's gaze melts into her own, her brow furrowing desperately. Amongst soft green lies a flame, burning gently and curiously. There was no string of words to acutely describe that time, that storm, and the doom Clementine had felt; she soon surmised it to be something better left unsaid, forgotten in the interest of moving forward, but there was a difference between letting go of something and pushing it away.

 

The falling snow haunts her in their stead, and sometimes she can hear whispers of her friends in the white peaks.

 

"The day after AJ was born...it snowed a lot." She recalls animatedly, willing herself to detach from the memories and force them away into the deepest corner of her head. "It wasn't that bad at first....but the more it snowed, the worse things seemed to get."

 

The way Violet's face loosens weakly makes Clementine wonder whether or not she expects her to continue, but she does so anyway. "It was some kind of domino effect, cause right after my friends just kept dropping dead, until eventually AJ and I were all that was left." Her voice sounds like it could shatter. "I want to move on and forget about all of it, but I can't and I don't know how."

 

Clementine sinks into the ocean of her eyes as she contemplates her words, the mint waves calm and thoughtful.  "I don't mean to be harsh, I've been told I can be kinda 'tough love' sometimes, but-" Her face pinches, breaking their eye contact. "-What's happened has happened, there's nothing you can do to change it now. The least you can do is remember them for what they were." "No one wants to be forgotten."

 

"I'm scared is all," Clementine explains. "Snow just makes me feel like something bad is coming, and there's nothing I can do about it."

 

"It doesn't have to." Clementine regards her with an arched brow as a giggle ghosts on Violet's lips. "Ever had a snowball fight? Those are wicked. I almost dislocated Louis's jaw during one once, he hasn't tried to start one with me since."

 

She hasn't, but the idea of it doesn't sound too bad.

 

Their connected gazes and the look in her eyes is more comforting than anything that could have been said then, and Clementine's pulse stutters under the weight of it all.

 

Her next words cut through the warmth of the moment. "Speaking of Louis, he's probably worried sick about you right about now." Her jaw clenches, chest puffing up into a sigh. "I'm sorry you're stuck here with me."

 

"What do you mean by that?"

 

"That asshole's pretty...friendly, I guess. Hah." The implications in her words are clear, and Clementine holds back a spurt of laughter. "I know you'd rather be spending the night with him than with me."

 

The words come out before she can stop them, or even rephrase it in a more eloquent manner. "I really wouldn't." Clementine can't help but mirror the smile that creeps it's way onto Violet's lips, her breathless laughter echoing through the hollow station. "He's nice and all but I like you better."

 

"Don't tell him that, it'll hurt his little feelings." She whispers.

 

More may have been said that night, but it's all a haze to Clementine. The most she can remember is the tension in her muscles and anxiety in her head melting away for just a moment, but long enough for her to find a comfortable position on the cold stone floor.

 

Her eyes have grown heavy, but she's sure to say something before sleep has taken her. "Goodnight, Vi."

 

"Sweet dreams."

 

* * *

 

The following morning, Violet wakes Clementine to tell her that the storm has since passed. There's a hood of grey under her light eyes, but she remains like herself and unphased despite the hints of exhaustion in her appearance. Clementine isn't certain whether she ever let herself surrender to sleep, but she sure hopes she did.

 

The sun was a refreshing warmth hanging in the sky, bathing the meadow. The snow had not disappeared, a blanket over the grass and leaves that are sure to hide under it, but it glows passionately in the sun's light.  

 

"Let's get out of here...before Louis declares himself leader and ruins that place." A smile dangles on the corner of Violet's lips as she speaks. "-Or AJ starts trying to bite people again."

 

"Got it. I'm ready."

 

The snow, reaching just above their ankles, breaks apart like velvet as Violet and Clementine journey through the white landscape. The air is pristine, allowing Violet to guide them with ease and smoothly make her path in the snow. It's not long before she's ahead Clementine, possibly lost in thought or simply confident that Clementine was capable enough not to be left behind.

 

Remembering the words that were exchanged the night before, Clementine carefully slows down her sturt and leans over to grab a handful of snow. The icy texture is unpleasant, and her hand begins to go numb as she packs the snow down and rolls it around in her palm. When the bundle of snow takes a ball shape, Clementine's lips lift into a gentle and somewhat mischievous smile.

 

"Heads up, Vi!"


End file.
